All things Battlestar Galactica

[GuineaPig]

Here's my list of ten episodes from the breadth of the series which I feel are most emblematic of this show; they are not a list of the ten best or my ten favourite.  There are NO SPOILERS in the list, but if you don't want even any hints at what is to come, I wouldn't recommend reading it.

"33” - Season 1, episode 1

I opted not to include either part of the opening miniseries, not because they weren’t effective pieces of television, but rather that they were simply not as important in establishing the tone of the series to come as the season one premiere.  “33” acted as a bold mission statement for Battlestar Galactica: not only did it prove the show could work in a week-to-week format, but it was an episode whose format, plot, and tone was radically different than the sci-fi shows that preceded it.  Exposition and discovery are discarded in favour of dropping the viewer in media res, the consequences are massive, and most interestingly, the protagonists spend the entire duration of the episode as passive actors.  This supremely written, acted, and produced episode defiantly staked out Battlestar Galactica’s territory, and remained one of the series’ best episodes.


“Kobol’s Last Gleaming, Part 2” - Season 1, episode 13

The show’s creator, Ronald D. Moore, was quite open about the creative process behind the show, and commented numerous times about the show’s predisposition to making things up as it went along.  In a serialized program like Battlestar Galactica, this can have interesting results, as showed by the first season’s excellent finale: a spontaneous action resulted in a thrilling series of episodes as both the show’s characters and writers improvised, and another creative impulse led to a drawn-out and completely unsatisfying storyline and conclusion.  The show’s willingness to throw things at the wall was often as exciting and interesting as it could be frustrating.


“Flight of the Phoenix” - Season 2, episode 9

Battlestar Galactica, while being largely serialized, also did a large number of stand-alone episodes, with mixed results.  At its best, like in “Flight of the Phoenix”, the show could pull off a character-based, stand-alone episode that was both and compelling and moving.  While the show sometimes suffered from poor characterization, this simple story provided a satisfying, emotional conclusion to a character arc without being overwrought or sappy.  Best of all, while the episode’s plot may have been contained completely within the episode, the effect upon the crew (and of the thing they create) lives beyond it.


“Resurrection Ship, Part 2” - Season 2, episode 12

The Pegasus arc was Battlestar Galactica at its best, not only introducing one of the show’s best characters and providing a fascinating re-analysis of its central one, but also bringing the simmer of mid-season 2 to a boil.  I couldn’t let myself get away with not including an episode from it, let alone what I consider to be the show’s best hour.  This episode contains all of the best elements Battlestar Galactica brought to the table: compelling characters, interesting stories, great drama, and bitchin’ space battles.  Truly great stuff.


“Downloaded” - Season 2, episode 18

Rather than stick with a faceless enemy for the show’s duration, Battlestar Galactica sought actively to build-up and humanize (rim-shot) it’s supposed cast of villains.  While numerous previous episodes had escaped the confines of the Galactica, this episode largely abandoned its main cast in order to explore their opposites, along with a several new characters.  It’s a fascinating episode in both its concept, its exploration and commitment to a murky morality, and the depth of consequences it entailed. 


“Collaborators” - Season 3, episode 5

Battlestar Galactica knocked out a couple of awesome bottle episodes, and while this episode is definitely quieter than the ones that preceded it, it is by no means of inferior quality (I’d consider it the second best amongst that five episode arc).  While a lesser show might’ve been content with a happier conclusion, Battlestar Galactica pursued all of the ugliness and fear contained in the previous episodes to its logical and terrifying conclusion.  The show was often at its best when its characters (and the audience) was at its most fearful; the reason the “war on terror” gets mentioned so much with regards to this show is its oft-pregnant paranoia, which is on full display here.


“The Eye of Jupiter” - Season 3, episode 11

The same year that Battlestar Galactica premiered, another sci-fi show debuted on TV: Lost.  As the two shows progressed, Battlestar Galactica definitely veered toward its network counterpart, much to my dismay (although I will note, many enjoyed season three and four just as much as the previous seasons).  “The Eye of Jupiter” is definitely a notable turning point in the show’s evolution, as it veered more and more towards building the sort of “mythology” that Lost was known for, indulging in religious prophecy, mysticism, and the supernatural in increasing amounts.


“Crossroads, Part 2” - Season 3, episode 20

This was the point where the show “jumped the shark” for me.  By this point, its metamorphosis into a clone of <i>Lost</i> was more or less complete, with all the disastrous character and plotting decisions that entailed.  While there were elements of the show that were still enjoyable afterwards, it was never the same.  It’s a shame there’s so much embarrassing stuff in this episode, because there is also some legitimately fantastic material, including a very moving character moment, and an excellent reflection on the nature of mob mentality and criminal justice .


“Blood on the Scales” - Season 4, episode 16

The show’s descent was into full swing by this episode, which is chock-full of shockingly awful characterization, shameful reversals of one of the show’s previous great strengths (its commitment to gray morality), and an embarrassing cop-out of an ending.  A hallmark of season four was characters doing things just for the sake of the plot, and the build-up and conclusion to this two-parter was rife with it.  But hey, lots of people love this episode, so what do I know?  It is really interesting to see how marked a shift in opinion there is over the fourth season.


“Daybreak, Parts 2 and 3” - Season 4, episode 22

It takes a lot from a finale to impress me.  But it’s not my high standards that cause me to loathe this series finale.  Season four as a whole was a mess in terms of plot, characterization, and the show’s ever-more complex mythology, and this episode embodies the worst of it all.  I’d be more OK with this episode if it’s awfulness was self-contained, but the terrible conclusions it gives to the plots and questions that stretch backwards from it retroactively damage the rest of the series.  How can I enjoy the characters and plots as much as I used to, knowing the stupid fates that await them at the end of the series?  Not to mention that the episode advocates an incredibly dangerous and destructive approach to technology that is both amusingly short-sighted and smugly hypocritical.  It’s capped off by a horrific montage that is so reductionist, it’s insulting to the people who enjoyed the first three or so seasons of complex, well-written drama.  Fuck this episode.

[bosk1]

I skipped the season 4 episodes, but read the rest.  While I enoyed reading the critique, you often pretty much just say your opionion without citing any examples.  For example, in Crossroads2, you menion the show containing a lot of "embarassing" moments, but you don't say what a single one of them are.  That makes it hard to attach any meaning or have any real discussion.  Would be better if you gave examples.

[yorost]

@yorost:  There is clearly plenty of room for debate.  But for the record, I don't see your logic and I think you're completely wrong. 

That's fine, but for what it's worth this was a common opinion at the time and not one I hatched myself.  It's just the only one that has made any sense to me.  A lot of people settled on Anders after that episode.  It's not even completely clear they knew who the reference was to, though.  Ellen makes no sense since they were not 100% sold on her, and after the show was over Moore said somewhere that after they finally decided 100% on Ellen (even later than where you currently are) they more or less retconed it to mean Ellen.  ...so when they wrote it it had not meant Ellen, but they eventually interpreted it that way.  Rather odd.  By the end of the show I am certainly wrong, but at the time of the episode it may have been a valid conclusion.  Unfortunately, after the show is the only time I know of that anyone answered the question of who Three was referring to, so it's still an open question as to what was being thought of at the time.  ...but it wasn't Ellen.

[bosk1]

I never said it referred to her.  I said it referred to her husband, which far and away makes much more sense to me than it referring to ANY of the others. 

[GuineaPig]

I skipped the season 4 episodes, but read the rest.  While I enoyed reading the critique, you often pretty much just say your opionion without citing any examples.  For example, in Crossroads2, you menion the show containing a lot of "embarassing" moments, but you don't say what a single one of them are.  That makes it hard to attach any meaning or have any real discussion.  Would be better if you gave examples.

Yeah, it was designed to be a general overview that remained spoiler-free.  I can cite a bunch of examples if you want.

- The music stuff I really disliked.  It essentially came about because the writers had no way to organically break the Final Five, and it shows.  There's just random music drawing them together, and it's never explained or happens again.
- Sharon/Laura dream stuff is poor, although compared to the rest of the storyline it's trapped in it comes out OK.
- The Lampkin twist was unnecessary and kind of lame.
- Yay, more Opera House stuff!  Maybe it doesn't seem so bad the first time through, but in retrospect it just comes off as embarrassing filler.
- I'm pissed at the Final Five in general.  It first of all doesn't make sense that there's five of them (the writers missed something obvious here).  And they ruined some of my favourite characters, as well as two of the best emotional beats of the show.
- Kara's disappearance and return was cheap emotional manipulation that served no purpose and just ended up being silly.
- Fun anecdote: the first time I was watching this with a friend, he commented on the episode's title, and thinking of "Crosstown Traffic," hoped that Jimi Hendrix would be involved somehow.  He at least was pleased at the ending (although not in retrospect).

[yorost]

I never said it referred to her.  I said it referred to her husband, which far and away makes much more sense to me than it referring to ANY of the others. 

Yes, I remember, I just think it is important to point out those points about Ellen.  It does ultimately become her, but in revealing that they pointed out it did not originally mean her.  Saul makes no sense to me over Anders.  OK, he got tortured by Cavil, did Three even know that?  You have Saul and Tigh next to each other, why would she apologize to Saul for his loss of an eye that is not her fault but not to Anders whom she tried to kill while holding prisoner?

[bosk1]

@GP

























Cool!  I'll comment on just a couple, and then I really have to try to get caught up on some stuff here.

- The music stuff I really disliked.  It essentially came about because the writers had no way to organically break the Final Five, and it shows.  There's just random music drawing them together, and it's never explained or happens again.

Really?  I thought that was one of the best parts of the entire series.  But, wait...you're saying they never explain it?  Really?  That's irritating.  I mean, there are some definite hints just in the episode about what's going on and why, but I am expecting it would be fleshed out a bit later.  They never explain any more of it?  That's lame if it's true.

- Sharon/Laura dream stuff is poor, although compared to the rest of the storyline it's trapped in it comes out OK.

Hmm...I don't know.  To me, it's pretty intriguing. 

- I'm pissed at the Final Five in general.  It first of all doesn't make sense that there's five of them (the writers missed something obvious here).  And they ruined some of my favourite characters, as well as two of the best emotional beats of the show.

What do you mean, they missed something obvious?  Or that they ruined some of your favorite characters or two of the best emotional beats of the show?  I'm not following you.

[yorost]

I think he means Saul for one.  I originally agreed with him but after seeing where they went with him think it was great for his character and am glad they did it.  His reveal really pissed me off, though, I thought they destroyed my favourite character.

[GuineaPig]

With regards to missing something re: the Final Five, I'm talking about odds.  Let's say ~50,000 humans survived the Cylon attack out of a population of 20 billion.  That gives you roughly a one in 400,000 chance of surviving the attack.  The odds of all five surviving are then a staggering one in 10 billion billion billion.

It would've been damn easy for the writers to not cannibalize the cast and have only one of the Final Five survive.

[bosk1]

I never said it referred to her.  I said it referred to her husband, which far and away makes much more sense to me than it referring to ANY of the others. 

Yes, I remember, I just think it is important to point out those points about Ellen.  It does ultimately become her, but in revealing that they pointed out it did not originally mean her.  Saul makes no sense to me over Anders.  OK, he got tortured by Cavil, did Three even know that?  You have Saul and Tigh next to each other, why would she apologize to Saul for his loss of an eye that is not her fault but not to Anders whom she tried to kill while holding prisoner?

But that was SUCH a minor event.  And, ultimately, despite what she WANTED to do, there was precisely zero harm done to him.  I mean, putting this in sort of real life terms, it would be like if we were at war with another country, and there was some dude who was actually part of the U.S. military, but I didn't know that because he was a spy and was posing as a member of the other side's military and had been fighting against the U.S.  If I had an opportunity to try to kill him while I thought he was an enemy combatant, but was stopped and failed before I could carry it out, and he wasn't harmed at all, I wouldn't feel too bad about it later if I learned that he was really on our side.  Yeah, I'd apologize, but the apology would have a huge undertone of, "While I'm very sorry, in all fairness, we were at war, and you were dressed up like the enemy at the time, so...yeah...wanna go have a drink?" 

In contrast, Three's reaction was one of terror/horror.  That's not a realistic reaction to the situation with Anders.  She or those associated with her had to have done something pretty horrible to whoever her apology and reaction were aimed at.  From what we've seen, Saul's torture and actually having an eye ripped out is far and away the most likely candidate.  Although, actually, now that I think about it, I guess Ellen does also fit.  I mean, similar to Saul, Three wasn't directly involved in most of what happened to Ellen.  But Ellen was practically forced to sell out the humans repeatedly, including Saul and the resistance, and was forced to literally whore herself out with Cavil.  So, yeah, I could see Three reacting to that as well, come to think of it.  But Anders?  Nah, not really.  At least, not based on anything we were shown on screen.

[bosk1]

@GP:

With regards to missing something re: the Final Five, I'm talking about odds.  Let's say ~50,000 humans survived the Cylon attack out of a population of 20 billion.  That gives you roughly a one in 400,000 chance of surviving the attack.  The odds of all five surviving are then a staggering one in 10 billion billion billion.

It would've been damn easy for the writers to not cannibalize the cast and have only one of the Final Five survive.

Oh, I see.  Well, I guess my response is this:  One of the threads that runs through the show is the concept of fate ensuring that certain outcomes happen.  Or divine intervention, if you want to look at it like that.  I just ASSUMED as it was unfolding that the five were destined to survive and to arrive in the place they are at now.  That to me was just obvious given the parameters of the BSG universe and storyline, so I didn't even bat an eyelash at the odds.

I thought you meant they should have chosen a different number than five that would have had a greater signfiicance.  I think it's perfect, in context.  There are seven known models with model numbers, and a missing model #7.  Plus the five.  That makes 13 models, which parallels the number of human colonies, including one lost/missing colony (earth).  Nice parallel, if you ask me.

[yorost]

@bosk1:

Big difference in your story is you're talking same side, not someone she's obsessed with to the point she keeps killing herself.  This is also tv, and we only have the evidence shown to us.  If she replaced Cavil in the confinement room, I would be more accepting of your side, but we were not shown any reason to assume she had knowledge of that event.  We do know for certain her connection to A.

Another possibility is that they didn't know for certain who they were going to make it mean, but that it worked for a few of their choices and they could decide later.  The three most popular choices, the three we've been discussing, all ended up cylons.

Baltar was also a popular choice, but given solid proof of not being a Cylon shortly thereafter so fell by the wayside.

[bosk1]

I get you, but I'll just take one final shot at this:  The two most relevant factors are (1) the amount of shock/regret she visibly showed; and (2) the severity of the conduct and the impact it would have had on the victim to illicit such a response from her.  It wouldn't necessarily matter to her whether she, individually, would have been directly responsible for inflicting whatever the horror was on that individual if the cylons, as a group that she is a part of, did it.  So, again, going through those three individuals:

A:  Not really very severe.  She tried to kill him in pretty much a combat situation where he appeared to be an enemy combatant.  And no harm done to him.  So while an apology is definitely appropriate, her shock and horror are not. 
ST:  VERY severe.  So even though she wasn't directly involved in the torture and him losing an eye, the severity of what he went through at the hands of the group that she was a part of is enough to have made such a reaction appropriate.
ET:  Similar.  VERY severe.  Again, even though Three didn't directly do anything to ET that we are aware of, it would be appropriate for her to be horrified on behalf of the Cylons as a whole.

I realize that they didn't know who she was apologizing to at the time.  But looking back and trying to make it fit, I still can't help but feel ST is the best fit, with ET a close second, and A a very distant third.

[yorost]

They may have had a specific target, they've never opened up about it as far as I know.  The only great evidence we have is they decided it to be ET well after the fact.  Once that passed there was no reason for them to indicate what they originally meant, so it could be they left it open or that they meant somebody specific.

If Three knew about ET or ST I get what you're saying.  ET I think would be shocking if she knew.  ST more likely but still relies on speculation of knowledge.

Also, I'm not sure we're talking about the same event with A or not.  I'm talking about what happened on Caprica in Downloaded, that's the same Three model.  You?  That was nothing like combat, more like execution.

[bosk1]

Yeah, that's the event with A that I was talking about.  As far as I know, that's the only direct involvement between the two.  But why do you think Three wouldn't have known about ST or ET?  She was part of the Cylon leadership and decision making core on New Caprica.  I think it's much more likely than not that she knew.  In fact, it has never even occurred to me that she wouldn't.  Why do you think she didn't?

[ReaPsTA]

BOSK FRIENDLY SPOILERS

Really?  I thought that was one of the best parts of the entire series.  But, wait...you're saying they never explain it?  Really?  That's irritating.  I mean, there are some definite hints just in the episode about what's going on and why, but I am expecting it would be fleshed out a bit later.  They never explain any more of it?  That's lame if it's true.

No..... just..... goddamnit... no.  GP is not correct here.

There isn't a scene where the BSG God appears and explains why Watchtower in particular is so important or anything like that.  But, the meaning of All Along the Watchtower and the Final five melody continues to evolve and weave itself further into the fabric of the show's reality.  It ends up paying off in a huge, huge way later.

- Sharon/Laura dream stuff is poor, although compared to the rest of the storyline it's trapped in it comes out OK.

Hmm...I don't know.  To me, it's pretty intriguing. 

Major pay off later.  Stay tuned.

Oh, I see.  Well, I guess my response is this:  One of the threads that runs through the show is the concept of fate ensuring that certain outcomes happen.  Or divine intervention, if you want to look at it like that.  I just ASSUMED as it was unfolding that the five were destined to survive and to arrive in the place they are at now.  That to me was just obvious given the parameters of the BSG universe and storyline, so I didn't even bat an eyelash at the odds.

Indeed.  Like I said earlier, you're skills at watching the show have grown greatly.

I thought you meant they should have chosen a different number than five that would have had a greater signfiicance.  I think it's perfect, in context.  There are seven known models with model numbers, and a missing model #7.  Plus the five.  That makes 13 models, which parallels the number of human colonies, including one lost/missing colony (earth).  Nice parallel, if you ask me.

Yep.

[yorost]

Yeah, that's the event with A that I was talking about.  As far as I know, that's the only direct involvement between the two.  But why do you think Three wouldn't have known about ST or ET?  She was part of the Cylon leadership and decision making core on New Caprica.  I think it's much more likely than not that she knew.  In fact, it has never even occurred to me that she wouldn't.  Why do you think she didn't?

With ET, the bedding events weren't exactly something you would expect to be command decisions.  What happened afterwards, why would any of the cylons have known about that?  I dislike they eventually made it ET, bad hindsight decision.

As I said with ST, more likely, we're just not given evidence of it.  This copy of Three is also obsessed with the child, though, that's about all we're shown of her.  It doesn't seem like she's too concerned with other events.

[yorost]

Indeed.  Like I said earlier, you're skills at watching the show have grown greatly.

You know, these comments do come off rather badly.  I feel awkward reading them.

[Dimitrius]

Indeed.  Like I said earlier, you're skills at watching the show have grown greatly.

You know, these comments do come off rather badly.  I feel awkward reading them.

Yep.

[bosk1]

BOSK FRIENDLY SPOILERS

- Sharon/Laura dream stuff is poor, although compared to the rest of the storyline it's trapped in it comes out OK.

Hmm...I don't know.  To me, it's pretty intriguing. 

Major pay off later.  Stay tuned.

You don't have to confirm or deny anything, but just to let you know where I'm coming from on it:  I suspect Hera is important to the future of humanity and the Cylons.  Well, I mean, I guess that's not very groundbreaking, since Six has been pretty much saying that for a long time.  But I'm guessing the story is going to go off in a direction something along the lines of sort of taking the position that humanity, as it exists now, is somewhat obsolete and DOES need to actually be extinct as we know it because of our destructive tendencies.  But I think the twist on that idea (which is one that has already been presented) is that, rather than become extinct, humanity needs to evolve into something else.  And I think the parallel is that the Cylons face similar judgment.  And the offspring of human and Cylon will end up being the new hope for the new race, so to speak.  So Hera (and Nicolas) is the obvious cornerstone to all of that.  And Roslyn ties into that because she is (1) the prophesied dying leader of humanity (oooh, "dying" and "leader," representing a dying humanity?  intriguing...), and (2) she is linked to Hera by having Hera's blood in her.  But, being Hera's mom, Boomer also is obviously linked to Hera.  So Hera linking humanity and Cylons together is symbolized in at least two ways:  (1) Boomer (Cylon) and Helo (human) being her parents, and (2) Boomer (Cylon) and Roslyn (human) both being linked to her, literally, by blood and, from what it appears, possibly sharing some sort of "spiritual" link as well.  Anyhow, I'm not COMPLETELY sure where this is ultimately going, but those are kind of my preliminary thoughts, and even if I end up being wrong, it's a pretty interesting theory that is fully supported by what we know up to this point.

[Perpetual Change]

Oh, I see.  Well, I guess my response is this:  One of the threads that runs through the show is the concept of fate ensuring that certain outcomes happen.  Or divine intervention, if you want to look at it like that.  I just ASSUMED as it was unfolding that the five were destined to survive and to arrive in the place they are at now.  That to me was just obvious given the parameters of the BSG universe and storyline, so I didn't even bat an eyelash at the odds.

Great point, and 100 percent correct. One of GP's biggest problems with the series, I've noticed, is that he tends to take a part of it (particularly, season 2) and overemphasizes how representative it is of the whole show. Yes, most of season 2, and parts of 1 and 3, are pretty "secular" with no mysticism at all, and are basically showing us the Galactica and it's crew bogged down in politics and the war. BUT, if you watch the show from beginning to end, as I've basically started doing again, you'd notice those more mystical and religious elements were always there, even in the pilot. And it's always been clear, from the beginning until the finale of season one, that there is certainly some kind of higher fate/higher power pushing several of the series' main characters onward.

[ReaPsTA]

Indeed.  Like I said earlier, you're skills at watching the show have grown greatly.

You know, these comments do come off rather badly.  I feel awkward reading them.

Hm.

IMO, the show is kinda sorta meant to be watched a certain way.  99% of the time someone complains about the show, it's because they're watching the show they want to see and not the show the writers intended.

It's fun to read Bosk's comments because it's so obvious that he gets the show.

[bosk1]

Yeah, that's the event with A that I was talking about.  As far as I know, that's the only direct involvement between the two.  But why do you think Three wouldn't have known about ST or ET?  She was part of the Cylon leadership and decision making core on New Caprica.  I think it's much more likely than not that she knew.  In fact, it has never even occurred to me that she wouldn't.  Why do you think she didn't?

With ET, the bedding events weren't exactly something you would expect to be command decisions.  What happened afterwards, why would any of the cylons have known about that?

Well, in terms of the details, I agree with you.  I'm sure Cavil didn't come back to Cylon Headquarters and say, "Hey, let me tell you something.  ET has this move called 'the swirl'...just OUT OF THIS FRAKKIN' WORLD, MAN!"    But I absolutely assume the other Cylon leaders on New Caprica (the Three, Five, Six, and Eight) that were shown making the decisions very likely knew he was bedding her to spread misinformation and gather information for the Cylons.  I'm convinced they absolutely knew.  He even hints at it when he tells her they know ST is the resistance leader and that she needs to give him specific info "or else." 

[Perpetual Change]

It's fun to read Bosk's comments because it's so obvious that he gets the show.

Agreed. And, that he's actually taking time to post his comments. When I was watching the show, I just marathon'd it pretty much without leaving much intelligent observation here.

[bosk1]

Typing out my thoughts facilitates more active thought about the show, which actually leads me to come to a lot of the conclusions and discoveries that I wouldn't have made if I didn't type it out.  FWIW, I try to approach Bible study and other study the same way.  Typing/writing out thoughts, discussing, etc. facilitates cogitation.

[GuineaPig]

Saying that "the Five were just destined to survive etc." is a really weak cop-out that I don't think even Moore ever tried to advance.  It's essentially the same as hand-waving all the plot holes in the Star Wars prequels away by saying "it was the will of the Force," and deserves the same derision.

[bosk1]

It's not a copout when it's one of the primary themes that the show is premised on.

[GuineaPig]

But it isn't.  There's no discussion of "fate" or "destiny" with regards to the Final Five.  They just all... randomly survive. 

And I've always found it very ironic that the writers played so heavily the theme of "fate" or "destiny" with other characters and concepts when they themselves hadn't planned the arcs out. 

Regardless, I think the concept of fate is a silly one to introduce into any narrative, because it essentially robs the character's of any agency and kills all dramatic tension.  It's bad as a silly cop-out for things that otherwise can't be explained, but it's worse as a plot mover.

[bosk1]

Okay, well I get that you don't think it's an interesting concept, but as I and several others have pointed out, it is absolutely been made clear all the way through the series that it is a foundational concept in the BSG universe.

[ReaPsTA]

Saying that "the Five were just destined to survive etc." is a really weak cop-out that I don't think even Moore ever tried to advance.  It's essentially the same as hand-waving all the plot holes in the Star Wars prequels away by saying "it was the will of the Force," and deserves the same derision.

Because BSG and Star Wars are different universes.

You've seen all of BSG.  You know for a fact that certain very specific things happen because they're fated to.

In Star Wars, the "will of the force" isn't really brought up.  Destiny exists in Star Wars, but only in a vague sense.  For instance, Yoda tells Luke that going to Cloud City will bring inconceivable suffering (which is exactly what happens), but there's no sense of fate in Star Wars that makes these things happen.  It's completely Luke's choice and has nothing to do with any broader design.  If anything, the will of the force seems to be that he doesn't go.

You could bring up the prophecy about how "The Chosen One" will bring balance to the force.  But again, very broad strokes.  Individual things don't happen because the force makes them.  The prophecy seems to be more saying "This will happen" rather than "The Universe demands this happen."

Regardless, I think the concept of fate is a silly one to introduce into any narrative, because it essentially robs the character's of any agency and kills all dramatic tension.  It's bad as a silly cop-out for things that otherwise can't be explained, but it's worse as a plot mover.

I don't think there's any reason to believe though that any of the characters in BSG (with one exception that we absolutely should not spoil) are actually being controlled psychologically by a greater power.  People are put in designed circumstances, but their choices are their own.

Also, if I remember correctly, there are little moments here and there throughout the show that seem to indicate that "The Plan" can be changed or altered.

[Perpetual Change]

Bingo. GP, I'm surprised you haven't moved on from the series yet. You seem dead set on insisting that it always was, or came close to being, something that it actually never was from the start.

...Not that there's really a better sci-fi series all-around to get into.

[GuineaPig]

Name me an instance in the first two and a half seasons of the show that was "destined" to happen.  It only started popping up in the mythology-heavy third and fourth seasons, once reality had left the building along with coherent plotting and characterization.

In the first three seasons, characters often believed in the notion of fate, and often behaved accordingly, but things were always presented as acts of choice.  There's a very big difference between, say, Lara believing herself to have a specific destiny and attempting to fulfill it, and what the show did with certain characters in season 4, for example.

[Perpetual Change]

Name me an instance in the first two and a half seasons of the show that was "destined" to happen.  It only started popping up in the mythology-heavy third and fourth seasons, once reality had left the building along with coherent plotting and characterization.

I highly recommend you watch the pilot again, and then the finale of season 1.

[GuineaPig]

Name me an instance in the first two and a half seasons of the show that was "destined" to happen.  It only started popping up in the mythology-heavy third and fourth seasons, once reality had left the building along with coherent plotting and characterization.

I highly recommend you watch the pilot again, and then the finale of season 1.

Watched 'em both recently.  What did I miss?

[bosk1]

Apparently, everything.